Building our domestic church one day at a time

Dear Catholics.

I realize this may be a bit early to write a post about Christmas as we have just begun Advent, but I am going to ask you all to share this post with as many Catholics as you can before Christmas.

It is about an experience that I had last year on Christmas Day at Mass.

Now this particular Christmas, we sat in our usual spot, and I actually heard a woman behind me say “Look at all these people that come JUST for Christmas. I have never seen half of them before. It is disgusting.” And she even referenced my family in front of her. Full volume. Not even whispering.

As you can well guess, the Catholic Fam tries to go to Mass as often as we can. Generally this means every Sunday and all major feast days (although we do occasionally miss Mass for whatever reason). BUT we don’t attend the Mass she attends. So we would have never seen this woman. And she assumed we were never there.

Which got me thinking. I love Christmas. I love that the Masses are so full that we have to open up extra Masses in the school gym. I love that so many people want to be close to Christ, NEED to be close to Him that the parking lot takes an hour to get in and out of. I love seeing the line of cars all the way around the block waiting to get to Mass. I love that people who may not otherwise feel comfortable join us in worship. I love every minute of grace that comes from the holiness.

So my point is, if you have been away from the Church for a while, and you have had an experience like mine, realize you are not alone. And please, don’t let people like that deter you. We want you at Mass with us. We need you there. Your presence makes the graces and joy more abundant. We would love you every week to join us, but if you can’t (for whatever reason), don’t let people like that stop you from sharing in the holiness of Christmas. We love you and would welcome you with open arms. We don’t care if you don’t know the new translation (or even what that means), we don’t care if you don’t know when to stand, sit, or kneel. We love you. We want you. Christmas is not the same without you. The Church is not the same without you. A warm welcome DOES await you. We understand that you are busy, we all are. Just join us. Be there. And if you are shy about where to sit, find the biggest family with the most young children, sit there. Everyone will notice the kids and not you 😉 (great website: http://www.comehomeforchristmas.co.uk/)

And if you have not been away, please, soften your hearts. We all need a soft place to land, and that should be in the Church. Waste less time and emotion on judging, and more time and emotion on loving. People from every walk are looking for that. We need to look to each other and lift one another. Feel joy in our hearts that so many people feel inspired to come to the Church on Christmas. That so many remember the meaning of the day. That so many seek to find Truth. We are the hands and feet, but we are also the arms, and we need to open them wide to the many people who join us in worship. From any place in the world.